Olive Nicholls admits it would be ‘fantastic’ if she could carry the colours of her dad and 13-time champion trainer Paul Nicholls to glory aboard Shantou Flyer when swapping the classroom for the racetrack on Gold Cup Day at The Cheltenham Festival tomorrow.
Nicholls Jr, 17, (pictured above, carrying out a post-race interview with Robert Bellamy) will put her studies on hold at Cokethorpe School, where she is in the first year of a BTEC Business course, to partner the Shantou gelding in the St James’s Place Festival Hunters’ Chase. Having recently partnered her first winner under Rules aboard Magic Saint, who is trained by her dad, at Wincanton last month, the teenage rider hopes she can now make her first appearance in the saddle at the Festival one to remember aboard the 13-year-old.
And although Nicholls, who lives with her mum Georgie Browne, in Kingston Lisle, will not be riding a horse trained by her dad in the extended three and a quarter mile test, she admits having his presence and support at the track will be a big plus.
Nicholls said: “I’m so excited to be able to take these opportunities and be able to be partnered with the horses that I am at the moment.
“Dad purchased Shantou Flyer off David Maxwell and he is really keen to support Sam Loxton who trains him. He is an older horse and he is really suited being at Sam’s and he has done really well there. It has been great to gain lots of experience aboard him.
Sam Loxton, who trains Shantou Flyer in Somerset **Carl Evans
“I don’t think it particularly changes our dynamic between me and dad, with him being the owner and not the trainer. He is competitive whether he has anything to do with the horse or not. He wants me to do well just as much as I do and it is great to have his support and knowledge behind me. You are so much wiser going out with his words behind you.
“It would be fantastic if I could win in dad’s silks. I had my first ride in them and over the last year or so I’ve had so many days in those silks it would just be amazing to do that as a family as a lot of them will be here to watch me.”
While juggling race riding and studying presents a challenge it is one that Nicholls insists those at the Oxfordshire based school have embraced with open arms.
She said: “I’m only doing three and a half days a week there and it works very well. The course is going well and it is a good one to do as I can base a lot of it on the racing industry. It is very interesting and I’m sure I will be using lots of it in years to come.
“I just have ongoing assignments all the time so instead of having normal exams at the end of A-levels I have constant exams which I suppose it is a bit easier to manage as opposed to having lots to manage in one go at the end.
“They are very supportive at the school and they understand that I can’t be there the whole time and that there will be days I’ve got to be racing at all sorts of ends of the country. They have been a huge support in helping me balance both things. They have to work with me to make it work and they definitely do that.
“My form teacher at school who I’m with every day is possibly the most excited out of everyone put together. They are not horsey or into racing but they are all so supportive.”
Since teaming up with Shantou Flyer this season Nicholls has already secured two victories aboard the veteran gelding, including defeating last year’s Aintree Foxhunters’ hero Latenightpass at Chaddesley Corbett in December.
Latenightpass (farside, Gina Andrews) is just touched off by Shantou Flyer (Olive Nicholls) at Chaddesley Corbett **Carl Evans
And though things didn’t go to plan for the pair on their most recent outing at Charlton Horethorne earlier this month, Nicholls is confident the same mishap will not befall them on the biggest stage of them all.
She said: “It was nothing that happened over a fence at Charlton Horethorne. I very nearly didn’t run him as it was quite close to Cheltenham, but I just wanted to have one nice day out and typically he slipped on a bend. He was completely fine. He got straight up then caused a bit of trouble as we couldn’t catch him for a very long time so he had his own bit of fun.
“He beat Latenightpass in pretty soft ground and the more rain we get the better. He really runs well off that ground and if he can put in another performance like that then we wouldn’t be a million miles away.
“You have got to ride them with confidence but it helps when they have that bit of course experience and it will help me out on what is a step up in class for me as a rider.
“It is great to be partnered with a horse like Shantou Flyer who will teach me everything along the way.”
Much of the focus before the race will centre on Nicholls and her famous four times Cheltenham Gold Cup-winning father but she insists plenty of credit deserves to go the way of trainer Sam Loxton for keeping Shantou Flyer so enthusiastic during the twilight of his career.
She added: “Since he has been with Sam I’ve not sat on him at home, but Sam does such an amazing job with him. He knows him inside out now and there is a lot of trust going on. Sam does his job so fantastically so that on the day he does exactly what he should. These older horses love being with Sam and they grow another gear nearly. He is definitely loving pointing. He has got his real enjoyment of running back again which is lovely to see.
“Every time he comes out he causes absolute chaos in the paddock but he just loves it and it is great to see those older horses wanting to do it. He is such a character and he is absolutely loving life. It is so great to see those older horses with so much enthusiasm every time. As long as they still enjoy it there is no reason why they shouldn’t keep on going.”
Despite being one of the least experienced riders in the field having only had her first point-to-point ride in December 2021, Nicholls believes Shantou Flyer, who will be making his sixth Festival appearance, is the ideal partner to make the experience enjoyable.
Nicholls said: “You can’t go into anything thinking you are the most inexperienced there as you won’t get anywhere with that attitude. At the end of the day I’ve got to go out and ride with what I know and trust Shantou Flyer to teach me along the way.
“He has been a grand horse and has finished third in this race in 2020 and second in 2019 along with also finishing third in the 2021 Kim Muir and second in the 2018 Ultima.
“I’ve had an amazing time since I’ve started riding in points and under rules and I’ve enjoyed it 10 times more than I ever expected to. I’m working really hard to keep improving every time. I’m so much stronger this year and that has made a big difference.
“I was pretty tiny last year but the more experience I get the stronger I’m getting and it is all paying off. Hopefully, I can continue that upward curve on Friday.”